For "music night" this evening at The Wild Reed I share gay singer-songwriter Tom Goss's haunting ballad, "Breath and Sound," featuring Matt Alber.
Notes EDGE writer Kilian Melloy:
Drawn from [Goss's] album Wait, the song "Breath and Sound" features backing vocals by fellow out recording artist Matt Alber. The two artists have worked together several times in the past, most notably on "Who We Are," a video they made before the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." That video portrayed the grief and loss of a civilian who has lost his service member boyfriend in Afghanistan. Goss and Alber have also frequently teamed up for live performances.
The new video, directed by Michael Serrato, eschews shots of the musician strumming a guitar or singing into a microphone, and focuses on dance, with three pairs of performers – one heterosexual couple, one lesbian couple, and one gay male pair – telling the same story through movement: Falling in love, seducing one another, and finding happiness in each others' arms.
"I've been dreaming about this video for two years now," Goss recounted in a chat with EDGE. "Over those two years I was chatting with directors and dancers and ultimately, something about my vision was flawed. One night, while thrift shopping, I started talking to Michael about this wild idea I had. He immediately grabbed hold of it, got excited and pulled the vision together with strong ideas of his own. It wasn't until both Michael and I started brainstorming that the idea became something achievable."
It's the same crux
You think I'd have learned enough
To let my heart go
Yeah, to let my heart go
But it is safest
If I try deny this
Then watch it unfold
Then to watch it unfold
But I know enough
I'm longing for your touch
And I think, oh
Just a little bit of breath and sound
Just a little bit of reaching out
Just a little bit to find what I'm seeking
And, oh, one first touch my heart'll do the rest
Otherwise I'll never find the strength
Winter time had never felt so cold . . .
Continues Melloy:
The exquisite choreography is by Andrew Pirozzi. "He is the Supermanesque dancer in the straight couple," Goss noted of the choreographer. "That's actually his wife he is dancing with. They were electric together (as they all were). He's brilliant and a joy to work with."
While many of Goss' videos star himself – often in comic roles, sometimes in dramatic ones – the handsome singer does not appear in "Breath and Sound."
"We shot a lot of footage of myself," Goss revealed to EDGE. "The first edit of the video actually had that footage interspersed throughout. However, as we were watching it, we realized that we were losing interest every time the images of me singing were introduced. It distracted from the dance and the story being told by the dancers. So I ended up on the cutting floor. It was the right decision."
The editing cuts between the three couple as they enact identical choreography, and the action taking place on a bare stage with darkness as a backdrop. Once the dancers get each other's outer clothing off, all six are attired in black underwear. The choreography hints at physical coupling, but much more present is a sense of emotional bonds forming and being explored.
The finished work is a powerful and touching testament to the sameness of human connection, whether it takes root between same-sex couples or those of mixed genders.
That message of the universality of love and connection lies at the heart of the choreography, and informs much of Goss' music. In an August 18 interview at Huffington Post, published the same day the video premiered on YouTube, Goss addressed that theme.
"There's a reason the first verse focuses on the straight couple alone – that's what they are used to seeing. I want straight people to be drawn into a familiar story, one they understand and relate to," Goss told interviewer Lori Duron. "Once there, I want to show them that this exact same story is being lived by the LGBTQ community.
"As a gay man, I don't want special privilege," Goss added. "I just want to love – passionately, fearlessly and completely."
To read Kilian Melloy article on Tom Goss in its entirety, click here.
. . . In the morning
I won't say that I'm not scared
It's just that you're holding
My fears and pain
Now I know your touch
Once is not enough
And I think, oh
Just a little bit of breath and sound
Just a little bit of reaching out
Just a little bit to find what I'm seeking
And, oh, one first touch my heart'll do the rest
Otherwise I'll never find the strength
Winter time had never felt so cold
But with you by my side
We're on the way to getting right
All of the things we'd left behind
Take your time
Time
Just a little bit of breath and sound
Just a little bit of reaching out
Just a little bit to find what I'm seeking
And, oh, one first touch my heart'll do the rest
Otherwise I'll never find the strength
Winter time had never felt so cold
And, oh, just a little bit of breath and sound
Just a little bit of reaching out
Just a little you to set me free
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The (Same-Love) Dance Goes On
• A Beautiful Collaboration
• The Dancer and the Dance
• The Soul of a Dancer
• Five Takes on Five Dances
• Desert Dancer: A Story That Matters
• Dance and Photography: Two Entwined Histories
• Gay Men and Modern Dance
• Recovering the Queer Artistic Heritage
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